1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to digital commerce and specifically to the pricing and sale of products and services through a network based product offering using demand packets.
2. Description of Related Art
Individual buyers of both consumer and business related products and services (identified hereinafter as “singular customer”) are at a disadvantage when making purchases because there is little negotiating leverage for a single sale. Large volume purchasers, on the other hand, have substantial leverage, such as when a retailer purchases goods from a wholesale supplier. There is a continuing need for a purchasing system that provides the leverage of large volume purchasing interest to singular customers, while disintermediating the sales chain of the product.
One approach to providing a solution for volume and pre-determined pricing curve based system for the aggregation of purchasing interest is outlined in U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,266 entitled “Demand Aggregation through Online Buying Groups.” This patent describes a method wherein an online buying group, referred to as a “co-op” is formed for the specific purpose of purchasing a particular product based on a predetermined pricing curve that is modified by the market data from the co-op. However, as significant disadvantages, (i) the seller has to disclose to the demand aggregation system its pricing curve which may be trade secret information instead of dynamically providing the pricing for the product, (ii) the system targets the co-op information to “a” particular vendor or manufacturer of the product, (iii) the system does not provide existing market-wide price transparency, and (iv) the system does not allow potential buyers to create their own said co-ops as the co-ops tend to be driven by the system and effectively by the pricing curve information provided by the vendor or the manufacturer.
Another approach to effectuating bilateral buyer-driven commerce through allowing prospective buyers to communicate a binding purchase offer globally to potential sellers, for sellers to conveniently search for potential buyer purchase offers, and for sellers to bind a buyer to its offer is outlined in U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,207, entitled “Method and Apparatus for a Cryptographically Assisted Commercial Network System Designed to Facilitate Buyer-Driven Conditional Purchase Offers.” This patent describes a method and system whereby buyers can negotiate a purchase price of a product or service with a seller through an online bid-offer system. However, as a significant disadvantage, the patent does not create buying groups that have the ability of large volume discounts.
There remains the need for a digital commerce system that allows singular customers to create their own demand or purchasing interest pools, and routes these packets of demand (“demand packets”) to a plurality of hosts comprising (i) multiple suppliers, vendors, manufacturers and distributors of the particular product or service, (ii) auction networks where these demand packets may represent both sell and buy-side entries, (iii) vertical exchanges where similar category of products and services are sold and brokered, and (iv) horizontal marketplaces where similar categories of products and services are sold and brokered. There also remains the need for this system to be available over a plurality of network access devices comprising mobile phones, mobile computers, personal computers, laptop computers, handheld computers, personal digital assistants, and handheld computers. The system should further provide optimal pricing for the products coupled with market-wide price transparency.